Autumn’s been put to bed with Occy (her stuffed octopus: a gift from Colonel Sheppard on her second birthday), and David is washing the dishes after dinner. Evan sits at the kitchen table, spreadsheets of schedules and requisition forms laid out in front of him.

When David finishes, he dries his hands on a towel and stands behind Evan, placing his large hands on Evan’s shoulders and peering over his head.

“Busy day?”

Evan leans back into his hands, and David begins to massage his shoulders. “Nah. Just trying to get a head start on all this.”

David nods and kisses the top of his head. “Think you could put it off for a while?”

Evan smiles. “Did you have something better in mind?”

“Well,” David says softly, still working on Evan’s shoulders and smiling himself as Evan lets out a quiet groan. “Autumn’s sleeping, and we’re both at home with nothing to do until morning. It’s been weeks since that’s happened.”

“Two weeks and four days.”

David laughs and pulls away, leaning against the table next to Evan. “You know to the day?”

Evan slides a piece of paper out from underneath one of the piles. “I’ve got empirical evidence.”

David peers at the paper and laughs again. “Well, then, Major. Why don’t you block out the next couple of hours, and I’ll meet you in the bedroom?”

“Only a couple hours?”

David’s laughter echoes behind him back into the kitchen.